Death Metal MusicMusic and Culture on the Edge

I wrote this some time ago, but it still holds true in my opinion. As I have thought about what constitutes Heavy Metal and what doesn't some might suggest we have to look at its origins, some will say it started with Led Zeppelin and slowly migrated to bands such as Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. My point is not to debate the origins, however to distinguish between what is and what isn't Heavy Metal. The core of the argument is suggested that bands such as Poison, Ratt, et al are really Hea

Metallica revitalized. Not that long ago (well OK, maybe it was... ), when the roots of my inner music nerd/writer were being put in place (1978, Creem magazine), there were several bands whose records were in heavy rotation on my turntable: Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Bad Company, Black Sabbath, Ted Nugent. At the time, these artists were revered. It's a stereotype,...